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Genadul, Kingdom of the Great Bell
Hidden amongst the great Fissus Mountains is Genadul, the Kingdom of the Great Bell. Genadul is one of those rare examples of a truly, wholly evil nation that defies the known laws of social psychological and cultural development. Sequestered amongst massive glaciers, there is an enormous bell- the size of a small city, kept almost invisible by an eternal snowstorm. Were it not for its incredible size it would seem no different from any other bell, aside from one salient point. Legends left behind in the ruined citadels of the Ancients speak of bells such as the one in Genadul; their sound is so earth-shakingly loud that ringing them can rearrange the face of an entire world by the quakes and tsunamis it causes. But their true purpose is to summon. Aside from creating such havoc that continental bodies are affected, it is said that these bells- when struck- draw terrible things from the farther reaches of the Otherside into Realspace. Most legends purport there to be hundreds of these bells, but only a dozen or so were found during the glory days of the Federation. Some were destroyed, others dismantled, others launched out of the galaxy entirely, but some were simply hidden so that they could one day be rung. This was the fate of Genadul's bell. It is said that cultists following one of the Oldest Horrors (or something to that effect) found Genadul's bell and, to keep it safe from the Federation, brought all their most powerful magics to bear to hide it from their sight. This effort failed miserably inside of a few weeks. But knowing they could not win a direct fight, they did the next best thing, and made the bell completely unapproachable. The Shaythus region of the Fissus mountains is now eternally trapped inside of a powerful blizzard, making it unapproachable by land, sea, or air. The only ways in are through magical means or finding one of the Dulians' well-hidden caves. But the bell has not yet been rung, because in keeping the Federation, the Inquisition, the Pagans, and powerful good samaritans from touching it, the cultists themselves were unable to get to it either. It has become encased in a massive glacier which slowly grows a little bit every day as more ice, sleet, and snow buffet and coat it. Under this glacier, the cultists built for themselves a nation, and have dedicated the whole of their existence to trying to dig the bell out and melt the ice surrounding it, at least long enough for them to get off one good ring. If they have made any progress, then they have hidden it well. Despite being ruled over by a bunch of insane priests obsessed with things Mortals Are Not Meant To Know, Genadul does quite well for itself in many respects. Their population includes a great many wizards, sorcerers, and clerics; who, while mad as an outhouse rat, are able to sustain the country through extensive ritual and spellcasting to provide everyone with the necessary food and potable water needed to keep them going to see their grand schemes through. They have a fairly large population and are quite skilled at maximizing potential of every available space to keep that population comfortable, and they are one of the few nations which can boast that it has no sense of racial tension or struggle to bog down politics or slow down national projects. Of course, on the down side, they're all insane and single-mindedly dedicated to unearthing a bell which, if rung, could end the entire system, possibly all existence as we know it. And they don't often live very long lives- most people are lucky if they make it past fifty without ending up as part of a huge ceremonial sacrificial rite meant to empower the priesthood to speed up their digging efforts. Nor do they possess much in the way of scientific progress- most are known to live in conditions almost as bad as that of the medieval commoner, awash in filth, madness, and all sorts of unwholesome practices. But they're all very happy to be part of the kingdom, since they're all brainwashed from childhood to be happy about their lot in life. Little else is really known about Genadul beyond this. People who try to gather intelligence on the activities and society of the Genadulians have an unpleasant habit of coming back with severe PTSD, if they come back at all. Everyone is aware that the priesthood dedicated to the Oldest Horrors rules, but nobody knows the names of those priests and priestesses nor their chains of command, their military strengths and weaknesses, or how they're able to keep supplying themselves with basic needs like cotton, iron, and other processed goods necessary to help build stable infrastructural foundations to make a country work. The only thing anyone knows is that they are, currently, a minor but irksome threat. Raiding parties armed with exotic weapons and armors made from various subterranean monster hides, shells, and bones will occasionally pop out of hidden tunnels to raid the nearby presences of the Ryengan and Forsentinian empires for slaves and sacrifices, but these groups are skilled at avoiding tracking and know not to take on targets which stand a significant chance of defeating them. The Dulians have never been known to be diplomatic with any nation- not even the other fell kingdoms- and vicious when guarding their secrets, so any other information about them is guesswork and conjecture at best. Gerdelon Back to Main Page